SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Third-ranked Syracuse used a balanced scoring attack and strong play at the draw to hand the eighth-ranked Blue Devils a 19-15 loss in the teams’ first meeting Saturday, March 29 at the Carrier Dome.

Trailing 18-9 with less than 10 minutes remaining in the contest, Duke generated six goals before the end of regulation but was unable to come back from the deficit, falling to 7-4 overall and 2-2 in ACC action.

Senior Kerrin Maurer paced the Blue Devil attack with four goals and two assists while junior Taylor Trimble, senior Sydney Peterson and Skaneateles, N.Y., native Maddy Morrissey also had hat tricks. Kayla Treanor led the charge for Syracuse with four tallies and teammate Alyssa Murray added three.

Duke jumped out to a 3-1 advantage in the first eight minutes, with Trimble putting the Blue Devils on the board first on a fastbreak off a Syracuse turnover. Peterson and Morrissey also added scores during the early going before the Orange swung the lead to 4-3 in their favor on two offerings by Taylor Poplawski.

Morrissey collected her second tally of the game on a free position opportunity with 13:24 remaining in the period, but Syracuse capitalized on a strong presence at the draw to put together a mini scoring burst. The two squads then traded goals for the final six minutes of the half, as Trimble, Maurer and sophomore Maddy Acton found the back of the net for Duke and Kailah Kempney and Katie Webster both scored for the Orange.

Syracuse’s Treanor posted her third goal of the afternoon with 11 seconds remaining to give the home squad a 10-7 lead at the break. The Orange had the advantage in shots (20-11) and draw controls (13-5) at the intermission while the Blue Devils led in ground balls, 6-5.

Duke opened the second half with a quick score by Morrissey, but five answered by Syracuse pushed the margin to seven at 15-8 with 15:34 to play.

Trimble snapped the scoring drought with a goal off a rebound at 14:52, but the Orange responded with three more, including two by Murray and one from Treanor. The final eight minutes saw the Blue Devils close the game on a 6-1 run, with Maurer netting three during that span, but Syracuse would hold on for the four-goal victory.